Kevin Smith

I don't believe that the G8, representing a very small proportion of the world's population, has any legitimacy to determine global policy. Like so many international institutions, it's an undemocratic, non-transparent and unaccountable entity used to maintain the economic privilege enjoyed by a small minority in the G8 nations at the expense of the majority of the world living in the southern countries.

The G8 was established to address crises facing the system of international capitalism. If we are going to meaningfully address the threat of climate change, then we have to move away from a global economy based on perpetual economic growth, based on increasing extraction and consumption of fossil fuels. This model of economic status quo perpetuated by the G8 is the fundamental obstacle in our transition to a low-carbon economy.

The free-market response promoted by the G8 in the form of the global carbon market is a false solution, operating on the principle of "polluter profits" rather than "polluter pays." We need to push for a system where countries make their emissions reductions at the source rather than expecting southern countries to do it on their behalf.